Traditional and individual care pathways in gender-affirming healthcare for transgender and gender-diverse individuals - results from the ENIGI follow-up study

Abstract

Treatment requests in transgender healthcare are heterogenous and not all transgender and gender-diverse individuals want to undergo the various transition-related medical interventions offered. This study aims to explore demographic and treatment-related predictors associated with different transgender care pathways in a multicenter, multinational clinical setting. In this follow-up study, 539 adult participants from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands took part and were categorized as following a ‘traditional’ care pathway (i.e., undergoing all transition-related interventions), an ‘individual’ care pathway (i.e. any course of treatment deviating from the traditional pathway), or ‘no care’ pathway (i.e. not seeking transition-related medical interventions.). We analyzed differences in demographic (e.g., gender identity) and clinical variables (e.g., treatment satisfaction), conducting logistic regression analysis and descriptive subgroup analysis. Participants with a non-binary gender were 6.7 times more likely to follow an individual care pathway, while participants with higher treatment satisfaction were less likely to follow an individual care pathway (Odds Ratio: 0.6). We identified four patterns of individual transgender care pathways, some as a function of the sex assigned at birth. The present study provides valuable insights into demographic and treatment-related predictors associated with different transgender care pathways. Healthcare providers should be aware of individual transgender care pathways and the association with (non)-binary genders to provide tailored transgender healthcare and ensure individualized, high-quality service provision.